


The Feel of Your Hand in Mine

by Fericita



Series: When All Is Lost [6]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies), Frozen 2 - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:14:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21880234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fericita/pseuds/Fericita
Summary: Iduna and Agnarr spending time together in the woods, on the coast, in the garden, on the castle grounds. Set right after “First Days.”
Relationships: Agnarr & Iduna (Disney), Agnarr/Iduna (Disney)
Series: When All Is Lost [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1571230
Comments: 8
Kudos: 45





	The Feel of Your Hand in Mine

When Iduna learned Mr. Botner’s class expedition to the skerries wouldn’t happen until the spring, she was disappointed. When Agnarr learned the expedition wouldn’t happen until spring, he made plans for the two of them to row out to the small islands immediately. It was some trouble to secure a boat, more trouble to keep the palace guard on the shore instead of on the boat, and no trouble at all to convince Iduna to come on the boat with him. Which is how Agnarr found himself expertly rowing them out to the first of a series of skerries which rose up above the water in the fjord, all dotted along the shore in a line as though an earth giant had left behind crumbling footprints. Iduna had her satchel cinched tight across her body, and she was leaning into the wind, eyes closed, breathing deeply.

“I love that smell! I love that wind!” She called to him over the rush of the breeze moving off the ocean. Agnarr admired how the wind whipped her hair around her face, splayed like a halo, constantly in motion. It made her seem like a mermaid, hair flowing in the currents. He was filled with the oddest, most reassuring sense of remembering something, seeing her like that.

“How do you do that?” He wondered aloud. “Stay happy? Smile?” She turned around to look at him as he spoke, taking care not to rock the boat too much. It was still winter and tipping over would put a premature and cold end to their planned adventure for the day.

“If it’s not too intrusive, I mean,” he reassured her as he caught her expression. “I’m sure you don’t always feel happy, but whenever I see you - you seem to be helping someone, or smiling and laughing with someone, or excited about a new idea or new plant. How do you do that? How do you go on after all the sadness?” He was careful to avoid naming the sadness, since inquiring about her home had caused her such distress the day they spoke on the castle grounds. But he continued to marvel at her ability to stay cheerful and bring sunlight to others. It was a gift and one he wanted to understand. Maybe his own heart would stop missing his father so much, maybe he would stop his constant sense of worry for those lost to the north.

Iduna seemed to consider the question, and in her continued silence, Agnarr found he had more to say. “I feel sad all the time, and worried all the time.” He confessed. It made him feel a bit better, being able to get the words out. These weren’t things to discuss with the Council. “About the kingdom, about losing my father, how all I can remember from that day is him dying when the Northuldra warrior shoved him off the cliff. . . but there are so many other pieces to it that are important.”

Iduna answered slowly. “You don’t remember anything else? Maybe that’s best. Maybe it would be too awful to know more.”

Agnarr considered her words as he continued to row. “Perhaps. But someone rescued me. I’d like to know who. And why it is they didn’t stick around to be rewarded for the safe return of Arendelle’s monarch.”

Iduna stared at him, trying to figure out if he suspected her. But he seemed genuinely perplexed, not probing for truth. She tried to answer his questions, even though she skipped answering the one that he perhaps most wanted to know. “When the worst happened, and I realized my family was gone and I wouldn’t be able to go back to my home, someone told me to keep going. To do the next right thing. And I did.” She looked at him, and reached for his hand. She hesitated a moment, but grasped it. They were far from the shore. No one would see. “And the next right thing is sometimes making Iggy laugh or helping Eir or going to school. And even though I have to make myself do it, each time I do those things it feels easier the next time.”

They bumped against the skerry and Agnarr looked for a place to tie off the boat. He had to let go of her hand to secure the rope, and was sorry for the loss of the warmth of it, of her. “I’ve thought something similar. That I should just act like the king and eventually I might feel like the king.”

They both stood and Agnarr offered Iduna his hand as they stepped onto the rocky island She took it and rewarded him with one of her warm smiles. “I think you’re doing a wonderful job as king. Your people know you care – at least, I know the children at Eir’s do, and the others at the academy.” He held his breath. She was still holding his hand. “You should eat with us more often. They should get to know their king, and you should get to know them.” Agnarr nodded, and thought about how nice it would be to have time every day with Iduna, a bright spot in his monotonous schedule. 

They stopped talking in favor of exploring. He watched as she looked carefully at the moss growing on the rocks, lifting it here, scraping it there to reveal what was underneath. They explored the entire chain of skerries, finding several nesting birds, a variety of moss and fungus species, and even a bewildered duck that Iduna insisted they bring back to shore.

As they said their goodbyes at the dock, she ran ahead and then stopped to let the duck down on the grass. The duck made noises of relief and waddled off. Agnarr waved goodbye to Iduna, now a few steps ahead, but instead of waving, she said his name. He looked at her, expecting to see her point to a new plant or an interesting species of toad. But instead, she said “You smiled today!”

He closed the distance between them and gave her a little bow. “I did. I did! Thanks to you.” She smiled, and was gone, working her way through the crowd at the dock and back to Eir’s.

It was a good day. He had smiled. In fact, Agnarr found that he couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day.  
***  
Eating daily meals with the academy students became a habit, and Agnarr eventually ordered the castle kitchens to begin providing food after seeing the meager meals that the other children brought. He knew for a fact that on more than one occasion Iduna skipped her mid-day meal to ensure one of the other children had enough to eat. The councilors and ministers raised a fuss about using the national treasury for such a purpose, but the king noted the expense was taken from the royal family, and not the national coffers. The wealthiest citizens of Arendelle soon realized that though they could afford private tutors for their children, the palace academy was the best place for their children to have the ear of the king, to make a friendship that could benefit their business or interest. Soon even the wealthy children were also enrolled at the academy. Henrik Sundberg, whose mother owned a rather impressive lutefisk enterprise, was always up for a walk in the woods or the castle grounds, and would sometimes accompany Iduna and Agnarr on an adventure. Elias, son of Captain Calder, was often there as well, quick with a joke but also quick with any new material the teachers assigned.

Agnarr was pleased with the success of the school, and pleased that Iduna was gaining friends beyond the walls of Eir’s. The next trip they took by boat, Elias helped Agnarr manage one of the larger royal sailboats. The three of them went beyond the skerries to look for loggerheads, and Elias doubted their mission would be successful. “I don’t think we have loggerheads here. Maybe leatherbacks though. My father saw a bunch of loggerheads in the Caribbean.” He paused a moment. “What is a bunch of turtles called anyway? A flock? A trinket? A trove?”

“It’s a bale!” Iduna shouted above the wind from her perch on the bow. She leaned into it, and Agnarr noticed how much she enjoyed the strong feel of the wind whenever they were on the water.

They didn’t find turtles of any kind, but Iduna located what she thought could be cloudberry and bilberry bushes on a larger skerry near the shore. “We’ll have to come back and see it in the summer, maybe they will be blooming!”

Agnarr looked at the shrub, clinging stubbornly to a rocky island that could not have been its natural habitat, beautiful in its dedication to life, and thought he could understand why Iduna was interested in it.  
***  
Henrik picked up a branch from the forest floor and waved it about like a sword. Agnarr laughed. “Put that down before you hurt someone!” Iduna had invited the two of them on one of her walks in the woods to stock up on medicinal herbs, claiming that she could use the extra hands to carry more supplies back to the orphanage. He and Henrik were now toting several sacks and satchels stuffed with the forest’s bounty.

Iduna took the stick from Henrik’s hands, and exclaimed over the moss hanging off of it. “Sphagnum fuscum! I’ve been searching for this! It’s the type that will make a good pack in a wound!”

“You hear that, Agnarr? I can get hurt! We already have the perfect moss for Iduna to get me back to rights!” He waved his branch towards Agnarr, flourishing it in the air in an invitation to battle.

“Sure, fine, but if that moss turns you into a troll, I’m not sure there’s much she can do for you.”

“Old wives’ tales!” shouted Henrik. “Nothing but tales! No moss can turn me into a troll!”

Iduna titled her head and studied Henrik, head to toe, stocky and barrel chested. “Are you sure you’re not already a troll?”

Henrik yelled, ran at her with the stick, she shrieked in delight, and Agnarr chased them both, laughing.  
***  
“A plot of land? For me?” Iduna looked at him, confused but hopeful, unsure what Agnarr was offering.

“Well, yes, it’s nearly May and it’s time to plant the castle gardens. I thought Mr. Botner and your class, well, you could plant some of the bushes and plants you’ve been studying and collecting, and see if you could get them to grow here on the castle grounds. Like a final exam but more fun.” He gestured to the overturned soil, a large rectangle on the castle grounds, now marked off and ready for planting. “The working gardens have been neglected for too long. It wouldn’t be any trouble.”

“Yes! I would love that! And then I could come here this summer even with school out to check on you. I mean on the garden!” Agnarr smiled, and helped Iduna plan out where each bush and shrub and plant would go, writing down her plans for a medicinal row, a row for edibles, and a row for beauty. He longed to tell her that she would be the most beautiful creature in the garden, but he couldn’t figure out how. And besides, she was his friend. He didn’t want to make their time together awkward by declarations of her beauty. He was content to be her friend and spend time together, growing a garden, exploring on the skerries, walking in the woods. Sharing secrets and jokes and laughing at Henrik’s impressions of his mother and Elias’s tales of his father’s bravery. He was content, and it was a better feeling than any he could remember having had for a very long time.


End file.
